Snooker: Pankaj Advani shocks Campbell
New Delhi: India's Pankaj Advani authored a brilliant 4-1 win over Marcus Campbell of Scotland to enter the second round of the Indian Open World Snooker professional ranking tournament here Tuesday, in front of a
Looking ahead to Wednesday's 8 p.m. match against Allen, Advani said: "I have not played Allen before, but he is in good form. He recently won an European PTC event in Germany."
Earlier, four times World champion John Higgins, along with Stephen Maguire and young Anthony McGill brought cheer to the Scottish camp by advancing to the second round.
Higgins, struggling to regain form of the old, handed out a 4-0 drubbing to England teenager Joel Walker 4-0, while World No.5 Stephen Maguire coasted to a 4-1 win over Paul Davison and McGill displayed top form to overcome seventh ranked Barry Hawkins 4-1, posting two century breaks in the process.
World No.10 Higgins, though not in best of form, benefitted greatly from the mistakes committed by a nervous 19-year old Walker who was playing his first televised match that saw the veteran Scot shrugging off a scratchy start to finish with breaks of 76 and 61 in the third and fourth frames.
"It is the best table that I have played on all year. I was lucky today. It was Joel's first match on the TV and he was gave me lot of chances.
"I have not been playing well of late because I was tinkering with the cue that I changed a few times, tried different sizes. But now, I am happy with my cueing and hopefully, win a few matches," said the 43-year old Higgins.
McGill, only 22, gave further evidence of his talent by putting out Engand's Hawkins, runner-up to Ronnie O'Sullivan at the season-ending World Championship earlier this year.
McGill, ranked 47th, showcased his talent during his breaks of 123 in the second and 103 in the fifth while Hawkins scored his first points of the match only in the third frame. Hawkins managed to snatch the fourth, but McGill shut the door with a run of 103 in the fifth.
Gary Wilson, the 2004 World junior champion, joined the list of centurions with a break of 125 in the third frame, as he outplayed higher-ranked fellow-Englishman Dominic Dale 4-0 to also advance to the second round.
The results:
First round: Pankaj Advani (IND) bt Marcus Campbell (SCO) 4-1 (97-14, 65-49, 59-63, 134-4, 59-19); Mark Allen (ENG) bt Nigel Bond (ENG) 4-1 (63-61, 62-20, 99-02, 13-68, 84-02); John Higgins (SCO) bt Joel Walker (ENG) 4-0 (67-10, 68-11, 76-00, 73-00); Anthony McGill (SCO) bt Barry Hawkins (ENG) 4-1 (69-00, 132-00, 77-6, 00-64, 103-13); Gary Wilson (ENG) bt Dominic Dale (ENG) 4-0 (78-14, 65-53, 125-06, 92-39); Stephen Maguire (SCO) bt Paul S Davison (ENG) 4-1 (75-1, 27-42, 88-16, 76-03, 73-02); Li Yan (CHN) bt Jeff Cundy (ENG) 4-3 (72-45, 57-54, 44-52, 68-22, 32-63, 06-73, 51-08); Andrew Higginson (ENG) bt Jamie Burnett (ENG) 4-2 (75-07, 70-05, 67-33, 03-58, 00-86, 68-1); Fergal O'Brien (ENG) bt Alex Davies (ENG) 4-1 (67-47, 78-19, 71-64, 18-66, 85-07); Ding Junhui (CHN) bt Barry Pinches (ENG) 4-3 (07-75, 68-44, 70-9, 22-70, 22-60, 70-19, 89-04); Li Wengbo (CHN) bt David Morris (ENG) 4-2 (64-25, 66-32, 105-06, 08-86, 33-70, 78-0); Mark Davis (ENG) bt Elliot Slessor (ENG) 4-2 (35-97, 66-62, 61-70, 89-13, 48-36, 78-08); Hamdah Miah (ENG) bt Chen Ze (CHN) 4-3 (81-01, 97-11, 29-84, 09-73, 36-71, 68-13, 75-04).
Centuries: Pankaj Advani - 134; Aditya Mehta - 127, 122; Gary Wilson - 125; Anthony McGill - 123, 103; Mark Joyce - 114; Neil Robertson - 103, 103, 103.